Part 8

CONTENTS: The Origins of Folk-Lore; The Descent of Fire; Werewolves and Swan-Maidens; Light and Darkness; Myths of the Barbaric World; Juventus Mundi; The Primeval Ghost-World.

Mr. Fiske has given us a book which is at once sensible and attractive, on a subject about which much is written that is crotchety or tedious.--W. R. S. RALSTON, in _Athenæum_ (London).

This volume is not a text-book of scientific mythology. It contains seven essays crowded with quotations and examples, in the abundant use of which the writer's learning is not more conspicuous than his literary skill. Not everybody can shape and control such wealth of material.--_Christian Union_ (New York).

He has, as we must admit, one qualification for attaining his object, in being completely master of his subject, and in knowing also how to treat it in an attractive manner.--FELIX LIEBRECHT, in _Academy_ (London).

It is extremely interesting for its happy combination of psychologic analysis with a study of the primitive beliefs of mankind.... A perusal of this thorough work cannot be too strongly recommended to all who are interested in comparative mythology.--_Revue Critique_ (Paris).

Mr. Fiske is a master of perspicuous explanation.--_World_ (New York).

Its weight of sense and its lucidity will extend Mr. Fiske's reputation as one of the clearest-minded, most conscientiously laborious and well-trained students in this country.--_Nation_ (New York).

With the capacity for profound research and the power of critical consideration, he has a singular grace of style, and an art of clear and simple statement, which will not let the most indifferent refuse knowledge of the topics treated. In such a field as the discussion of old fables and superstitions affords, we have not only to admire Mr. Fiske for the charm of his manner, but for the justice and honesty of his method.--_Atlantic Monthly._

It is both an amusing and instructive book, evincing large research, and giving its results in a lucid and attractive style.--E. P. WHIPPLE.

* * * * *

=THE UNSEEN WORLD, AND OTHER ESSAYS.= 12mo, pp. 349, $2.00.

CONTENTS: The Unseen World; The To-morrow of Death; The Jesus of History; The Christ of Dogma; A Word about Miracles; Draper on Science and Religion; Nathan the Wise; Historical Difficulties; The Famine of 1770 in Bengal; Spain and the Netherlands; Longfellow's Dante; Paine's St. Peter; A Philosophy of Art; Athenian and American Life.

We think every one will remark, while examining this volume, the variety of subjects treated; and if anybody has formed an opinion that Mr. Fiske is a man who cares for nothing but myths and philosophy, he will find occasion to correct it. Many of these papers are critical reviews of important books widely different in their subjects; but to each study the writer seems to have brought, besides an excellent quality of discriminating judgment, full and fresh special knowledge, that enables him to supply much information on the subject, whatever it may be, that is not to be found in the volume he is noticing. To the knowledge, analytical power, and faculty of clear statement, that appear in all these papers, Mr. Fiske adds a just independence of thought that conciliates respectful consideration of his views, even when they are most at variance with the commonly accepted ones.--_Boston Advertiser._

Of all the criticism and discussion called forth both in this country and in England by that remarkable little book, "The Unseen Universe," Mr. John Fiske's "Unseen World" is at once the most profound, the most comprehensive, and the most lucid.... The mere statement of a thought in his perspicuous and translucent language gives it, in most cases, a new meaning and an added force.--_Appletons' Journal._

They are all striking compositions, and deserving of a place in the fore rank of this kind of literature. It is not often that more robust and healthy reading can be found between the covers of a single volume.--_San Francisco Bulletin._

The vigor, the earnestness, the honesty, and the freedom from cant and subtlety in his writing are exceedingly refreshing. He is a scholar, a critic, and a thinker of the first order.--_Christian Register._

Mr. Fiske has won for himself a foremost place among American writers on physical science; and the present volume of essays bears testimony not only to his ability as a physicist, but to his versatility of mind and critical powers as well.--_Canadian Monthly._

He is one of our foremost religious thinkers.--_Times_ (New York).

The line of argument is so plain that all can follow it, and the style is wondrously charming.--_Index_ (Boston).

Mr. John Fiske is a devoted student of Dante. The review of Mr. Longfellow's work is an admirable essay upon translating Dante,--an essay showing a very fine critical feeling and thorough knowledge of the subject.--_Transcript_ (Boston).

He is a scholar profoundly versed in ancient and modern lore, a thinker familiar with all shades of thought, an observer who studies men as well as books, and withal a writer of the purest and most graphic English.--_Inter-Ocean_ (Chicago).

He finely exposes the materialistic character of the book called the "Unseen Universe," which has been so highly extolled by the "Southern Cross" and other papers.--_Advertiser_ (Maryborough, Australia).

The book has a unity and charm in the clearness of the thought and the beauty of such a style as was perhaps never before brought to the illustration of the topics with which Mr. Fiske habitually deals. There is something better still in the admirable spirit of his writing; it is of all writing of its sort, probably, the most humane.... He has already achieved a place as wholly his own as it is eminent.--_Atlantic Monthly._

* * * * *

=EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST.= 12mo, pp. 379, $2.00.

CONTENTS: Europe before the Arrival of Man; The Arrival of Man in Europe; Our Aryan Forefathers; What we learn from Old Aryan Words; Was there a Primeval Mother-Tongue? Sociology and Hero-Worship; Heroes of Industry; The Causes of Persecution; The Origins of Protestantism; The True Lesson of Protestantism; Evolution and Religion; The Meaning of Infancy; A Universe of Mind-Stuff; In Memoriam: Charles Darwin.

Among our thoughtful essayists there are none more brilliant than Mr. John Fiske. His pure style suits his clear thought. He does not write unless he has something to say; and when he does write he shows not only that he has thoroughly acquainted himself with the subject, but that he has to a rare degree the art of so massing his matter as to bring out the true value of the leading points in artistic relief. It is this perspective which makes his work such agreeable reading even on abstruse subjects, and has enabled him to play the same part in popularizing Spencer in this country that Littré performed for Comte in France, and Dumont for Bentham in England. The same qualities appear to good advantage in his new volume, which contains his later essays on his favorite subject of evolution.... They are well worth reperusal.--_The Nation_ (New York).

These essays are all full of thought and worthy of preservation, while several of them are entitled to rank among the very best essays of American writers. For depth of thought, scholarship, literary taste, critical ability, and the power of clear and vigorous exposition _combined_, Mr. Fiske has no equal in this country and but few equals among European writers. He does not write on a subject until he has acquainted himself with it; and then he presents his thought, which often has the merit of originality, with a lucidness and attractiveness of style which make it easy to follow him in his treatment of even difficult topics. It is a pleasure to turn from our merely literary writers to the essays of Mr. Fiske, whose clear thought, discriminating judgment, and philosophic spirit, together with his fine taste and perspicuity of style, make his writings both instructive and entertaining.--_Index_ (Boston).

The vividness and directness of the style is second only to the bracing and stimulating quality of the matter. This book comes nearer than anything we now think of among American publications to successfully popularizing the results of science without debilitating or misinterpreting the same. The first papers of the book particularly emulate the clearness of Huxley.... It compels assent to the dreaded "new way of looking at things," but in such a way that when the assent is given the dread is all gone. It is a good book for the busy preacher on account of its wealth of facts, so arranged as to reveal the thought that lies back of each fact. Each conclusion suggests a lesson.--_Unity_ (Chicago).

Mr. Fiske, under the above title, makes his excursions through the realms of science, and evolves "evolution" in a most admirable manner--physical and psychical--by the "testimony of the rocks," and with wonderful wisdom explains the origin of matter and man so truthfully possible that it is accepted as exceedingly probable, if not certain, by the thoughtful reader. It is fascinating to read his proofs and speculations upon a subject grown so interesting, and the reader is disposed to apply the same term of praise upon his work as he bestowed upon Clifford: "Such scientific exposition as this is as beautiful as poetry."--_Hartford Post._

Mr. Fiske is the master of an extremely lucid and attractive literary style, and brings to all questions which he discusses the fruits of a very industrious reading and examination of authorities.... Whether one agrees with him or not one cannot fail to receive much instruction and definite intellectual impulse from the reading of this volume.... While heartily dissenting from many of the views advanced in this book, we commend it to all students who care for the honest judgment of an honest man.--_Christian Union._

=THE DESTINY OF MAN=, viewed in the Light of his Origin. 16mo, pp. 121, $1.00.

CONTENTS: Man's Place in Nature as affected by the Copernican Theory; As affected by Darwinism; On the Earth there will never be a Higher Creature than Man; The Origin of Infancy; The Dawning of Consciousness; Lengthening of Infancy and Concomitant Increase of Brain Surface; Change in the Direction of the Working of Natural Selection; Growing Predominance of the Psychical Life; The Origins of Society and Morality; Improvableness of Man; Universal Warfare of Primeval Men; First checked by the Beginnings of Industrial Civilization; Methods of Political Development and Elimination of Warfare; End of the Working of Natural Selection upon Man; Throwing off the Brute-Inheritance; The Message of Christianity; The Question as to a Future Life.

Mr. Fiske has long held rank as one of the most profound and exact of American thinkers, and his little monograph will serve to extend that deserved fame among a class of readers who are not ordinarily interested in the literature of science. Mr. Fiske's book is, in a word, a plea for faith in the immortality of man, based on the doctrine of evolution. With a superb command of all the knowledge bearing upon the philosophy of Darwinism, to which he has himself been a noteworthy contributor, Mr. Fiske sums up in eloquent periods the process of evolutionary creation from the origin of infancy to the beginnings of industrial and political development which have made human society what it is to-day; and then, looking into the future, he foretells how natural selection, working on the lines already marked out, shall attain its perfect work. The whole argument, or rather exposition, is a marvel of condensation.--_Boston Traveller._

Mr. Fiske has given us in his "Destiny of Man" a most attractive condensation of his views as expressed in his various other works. One is charmed by the directness and clearness of his style, his simple and pure English, and his evident knowledge of his subject.... Of one thing we may be sure, that none are leading us more surely or rapidly to the full truth than men like the author of this little book, who reverently study the works of God for the lessons which he would teach his children.--_Christian Union_ (New York).

Professor Fiske is always interesting. His exposition, step by step, of the doctrine of evolution, is admirably adapted for those prejudiced against it to read--simple, pleasant, and clear, and expressly designed to disarm hostility by showing that it is by no means absolutely incompatible with accepted religious beliefs--at least, with their essential qualities.--_Overland Monthly_ (San Francisco).

It is a remarkable contribution to the literature of religious thought.... It will prove that evolution is at least not irreverent.... It is packed full of learning and suggestion, in a style at once simple and beautiful, and is worth a dozen volumes of ordinary sermons.--_Philadelphia Press._

This essay will and should attract wide attention, founded as it is upon modern science and marking the way in an advanced path in religio-scientific inquiry. Mr. Fiske is acknowledged one of the first of scientific thinkers, and his conclusions have more than the usual weight.--_Albany Journal._

His little volume will be highly prized by those who enjoy seeing one of the most profound themes which can occupy the attention treated with eloquence and strength, with scientific insight and imaginative vigor.--_Buffalo Commercial Advertiser._

The reverent spirit of the book, the wide range of illustrations, the remarkable lucidity of thought and style, and the noble eloquence that characterizes it, render this book one of striking value and interest.--_Salem Gazette._

=THE IDEA OF GOD AS AFFECTED BY MODERN KNOWLEDGE.= 16mo, $1.00.

This essay is a sequel to "The Destiny of Man." Its object is to show that the indications of Science and Philosophy are theistic, not atheistic; that while the idea of God has been greatly modified by modern knowledge, it has not been lost or belittled, but magnified and illuminated. The essay is prefaced by a long Introduction of remarkable interest, and the whole book is full of significance and charm for all thoughtful minds.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., PUBLISHERS, BOSTON.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes

Variations in spelling and punctuation are as in the original, except in cases of obvious typographical error.

Each chapter of the book begins and most end with a decorative panel. These have not been referenced in this text.

Italics are represented thus _italic_ bold thus =bold= and Greek thus +greek+.